Human life is an ideological flow, a movement from crudity to subtlety, a movement from animal existence to sublime being. In this movement, there is both joy and sorrow. There are times when it feels as if the world is all coming your way, when you feel very good about yourself, about your circumstances. And there are times when you feel there is great difficulty in your life, things that cause you great pain. Many times, there is a mixture of those circumstances that cause pain and those that bring joy.

This human world, this material world is one of transient forms, as you all know. Because it is transient there is that which comes to life, which grows and develops, that which sustains, and that which degrades, dissolves, and is no more.

It is natural in human life that there is grief, there is loss. Not only loss of loved ones, loss of abilities, loss of health, loss of social status, and loss of money, but many losses occur in human life. And there is also, in addition to those losses, the ability to gain, to become that which you want to be.

Loss and accomplishment are both part of the human experience. It is not the experience itself that determines your happiness, that determines the quality of your life, but your relationship to that experience. If you feel that with the losses you are completely adrift, or with the accomplishments and achievements and gains that you are on top of the world, you swing back and forth, back and forth, but all of that swinging is occurring on the outside of your being. Your mind is engaged with the external world, the senses of the body, and the perceptual field of duality.

It is possible to have the same set of circumstances that are at times grievous, and at times joyous, and move within yourself to a different relationship to this human experience. The human experience does not change – the times can be difficult, very difficult. But what does change is your relationship to it, and as you continue to do Brahma sadhana, to ideate on the infinite, the divine Brahma, your relationship with this transitory existence changes because you are now a part of something greater. You see yourself as a part of something more, a part of something profound.

When that divine presence comes into your life, when through your efforts in meditation to bring your mind into a relationship, your heart into a relationship with the infinite, and then through the grace of that divine one, that presence comes to you, becomes a part of your existence.

Then you know, you become a presence, a consciousness that is partially engaged in these highs and lows of life but is also engaged in the equanimous flow of infinite being, that your divine guide, your divine Beloved, the divine manifesting in your life is a pervading presence—a love that sustains through the good times and the hard times. A love that carries you through it all.

When your heart and mind flow in relationship to the infinite, you become in the world but not of it, able to live this life but see that both the pain and the pleasure, the loss and the acquisition are both parts of a whole that in each there is a dance of creation. There is light and shadow that forms a whole of being in this creative world. But in the light and shadow, there is something that sustains, something that maintains through a thread through it all.

When your mind and your heart connect with that thread, that wave that flows through pleasure and pain, that flows through all the variety of experiences that can occur, you become connected to the soul, to the atman, and thus to the Paramatman. You become part of this divine presence, knowing that this presence is in all and everything, and though there is in the world of form, the continual appearance of change, that truly there is no change. There is a love that sustains, a being that always is the same.

Change occurs in a kind of dream or appearance within a cosmic being. In the creation, the sustaining, and dissolution of form, change is ever-present. But in the heart of change, there is that which is changeless, doesn’t die, isn’t born, always is, manifest unmanifest—always is in all things, in all beings, in you, in the breath of your body, in the cells of your body, in the senses, in the mind and your heart, in every living being around you, and even in inanimate objects this presence abides, is constant—a living, vital, intelligent, aware presence, a love without end, without beginning without end.

This divinity, this sacred Self of yourself, this sacred beingness is the true guru. That is why he is Baba, she is Baba. That is why it is Baba in the most esoteric sense the Beloved, the deep love that guides you, that comes to you in a congenial form. It may come in images, in feelings, in words. It may come in all manner of ways. But that infinite love comes to you as your heart opens and you begin to long for something deeper, for something more, for something that can sustain your being. You begin to long to return to that from which you have come, to that which is your deep identity, your true Self.

When that yearning awakes in you, and that Beloved of your heart not only calls to you softly in that awakening also calls to you, whispers to you in that, whispers to you so many gentle voices. Not only does that one whisper to you but when you turn and face that one, that one embraces you with unconditional love. That one is the deep core of who you are – the very essence of your being.

And when, through the grace of that one, the presence is revealed to you and that intimate relationship to your soul forms, and in it you dissolve like the salt doll in the sea. That is the sustaining nature when your heart and mind become imbued with that sustaining nature, with that infinite godhead, that divine Beloved. When you are infused with that presence, then you begin to see the true nature of all that exists in this form, in this world, and the pain and pleasure, the loss and the accomplishment, they don’t belong to you, and they aren’t substantial because that which you would lose you cannot lose; forms change, substance remain.

The infinite always is. Love always is. The sustaining substantial nature of being is unchanging. The core of your essence, the core of the essence of all those you love, the core of the essence of every being is this substantial presence, beingness, love without end.

Do you understand? Deeply understand not with the intellect, not with the mind. Understand with the heart. Understand from your soul. Understand in love. Surrender. There is no need to control when you feel this undying presence. You are safe. It is your rock, your shelter in the storm in which you are always cared for, always safe because it is your essential nature, and it is vast, beyond that you, beyond that little I-feeling. It is vast beyond the comprehension of the human mind, yet personal with undying love in which it enfolds you, and you are cared for.

So put aside these attachments to grasping and fearing and step into this deep love. Take the hand of your inner guide. Take the hand of your Beloved and go to that one. Abide in that. Abide with that one.

The storms of life come and go, and when they are there, they are violent sometimes and difficult, really difficult, and you may be fearful, you may be sorrowful, but even those deepest fears and greatest sorrows belong to that infinite one. When you offer them, when you let that one be your shelter, all are held in divine hands and there you are home.

So let that one guide you, love you and care for you. Take that shelter every day, every hour, eyes open, eyes closed, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter at all. It is the same. The real eyes that need to open, are the eyes within that awaken to the love that is your essence, your home, your shelter. ​